– By a Diabetology, Internal Medicine and Endocrinology specialist in Hungary
Although modern medicine and the resulting specializations tend to treat one area or organ separately from the others, checking the status of the oral cavity should be an important component of virtually all medical examinations. Within the oral cavity can be discovered the first symptoms of many internal organ diseases, including leukemia and AIDS symptoms.
A dental examination itself is not only checking for decayed or missing teeth, but also being very careful to look at the lips, gums, palate and mucosal status.
The importance of this is mainly due to the sad fact that there are so many incidents of oral cavity cancers, as well as the so-called precancerous occurrences to which the smoking and alcohol abusers are so often prone. Cancer screenings test too many internal organs when the first symptom of the disease can be detected in the oral cavity.
Are you acclimated to looking at the patient’s mouth or to send your patient to the dentist?
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